Livia
03-22-2004, 12:02 PM
Wow, what a wild weekend! But, that’s a typical SXSW for ya. First of all, thanks to everyone who made recommendations, I actually made it to some of the bands you suggested…Tracye – sorry I missed ya – hope you had fun!
Wednesday night – The Austin Music Awards – As predicted, Los Lonely Boys swept the major categories (band of the year, song of the year, album of the year, best bass player, and a few others). The performers that night – Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez. Chip wrote “Wild Thing” (a major crowd pleaser). There was also a reunion performance of several members of various local punk bands from 1978. The Green Cards, from Australia, opened the show with an appropriate St. Paddy’s Day Celtic vibe. Los Lonely Boys tore the roof off the sucka, imo. The music awards are always a blast – I seem to run into people there every year that I haven’t seen since the previous year. It’s like our prom, or high school reunion. It’s always fun. ;-)
I went to the Saxon Pub afterwards, just to hang out. It’s not a SXSW venue, but Ian McClagan’s Bump Band was playing their regular, weekly gig. Ian played keyboards with The Faces, and now lives in Austin. I went into the ladies’ room and phoned my friend Bruce, who I knew was at the Cheap Trick/Aerosmith concert in Laredo. He knows Cheap Trick personally, and I figured since it was 11:40-11:45 that the show was probably over. He answered his cell phone and I asked him if he was having fun. He said yes, and “Hang on, I’ll let you talk to Robin” and handed the phone to Robin Zander! LOL I ended up talking to him for 15 minutes or so. I told him I liked the duet he did w/ Stevie. He said he loved working with her and seemed shocked that I’d even heard about it.
Thursday night – My favorite new band, the Scissor Sisters! They were at Stubb’s, one of the 2 bands who played before the B-52’s. Check out their website- check out the chick! She has a Stevie vibe goin’ on. And she rocks on the tambo, just like Stevie! They were fantastic, very B-52’s-ish in their own way. I loved them!
Now, as much as I love the B-52’s, I have seen them before. And Little Richard was playing at the same time across town. So, I grabbed one of those bicycle-rickshaw pedi-cabs and headed toward the Music Hall. I wanted to get there early, since I knew it would be packed. Cake played right before Little Richard, and I caught their set too. They closed with their cover of “I Will Survive.” And what can I say about Little Richard? He da man! I love when he goes “shut up!” Hee. He played all the hits, “Tutti Frutti,” “Good Golly, Miss Molly,” etc. He had an 8-piece band, including 2 drummers, full-on horn section. He rocked! Little Richard’s people were passing out these Christian, inspirational booklets, “Finding Peace Within.” Inside the cover was a pic of Little Richard, with a pre-printed autograph.
I grabbed another pedi-cab and went back to Stubb’s for Junior Senior. I was standing at the indoor bar, showing the bartender and another guy the Little Richard pic and booklet. I hear this woman behind me in line say, “OH! You saw Little Richard?!” I started to say, “Yeah, he was great!” I get out, “Yeah, he …” and turn around, and it was Kate Pierson from the B-52’s!!! LOL She looked fantastic! I finished my sentence about Little Richard and then said, “Wow! Hi!” Other people walked up to her, so I split. I also walked right past Fred Schneider about 10 times. He seemed rushed, so I didn’t stop him. No Kodak moment there….but Junior Senior was great!
Friday night – Continental Club – Shooter Jennings (Waylon and Jessi’s son) and Jessi Colter were playing. Kris Kristofferson was there, and so was Don Was (he produced “Someone to Stand By Me” and a gazillion other artists, including Bonnie Raitt’s Nick of Time album). He’s also an accomplished musician, he played stand-up bass w/ Jessi.
People kept approaching Kris Kristofferson and I was waiting for the right moment. In the meantime, Johnny Knoxville (from Jackass) walked in the back door. He pointed out Kris to his friend, who turned back around with his mouth hanging open. I put my hand on his chin and said, “You’re catching flies, hon!” That was a good ice-breaker for meeting Johnny. I had his friend take our pic.
I was standing on the side of the stage watching the show, and saw a woman in the very front, wearing a Shooter Jennings t-shirt and enjoying every second, and thought to myself, “She looks like Drea Matteo, Adrian from the Sopranos.” Well, turns out, it WAS her! She is also tiny! No more than 5’ 2”. I couldn’t place her at first, without the big hair and nails and make-up like on the Sopranos. The club was packed and the only spot for any elbow room was in the back, by the pool table. My favorite spot to stand in is against the wall, between the stage and pool room. Drea smooshed right past me and someone else recognized her. I said, “Wow, it IS you!” I told her about typing “Christapha” on a message board discussion about the Sopranos and she cracked up. She said, “That’s all they ever give me, Christapha, this, Christapha, that, it’s all about Christapha.” LOL She was very sweet, I ran into her in the bathroom and she said she loved Austin and wanted to buy a house here. I told her I thought the multi-million dollar home that Sandra Bullock built and never moved into might still be available. She said, “F*ck Sandra Bullock!” LOL Then she said, “No, seriously, I could probably never afford a place like that, but I’d still love to buy a house here.” No Kodak moment, we were the only 2 in there! Later, I went in to pee and there were 4 other women fawning all over her, “I loooove the Sopranos, who dies this season?” I said, “Don’t say anything, I don’t wanna know!” As I was peeing, she was telling them how nice this cast member and that cast member was, etc. Again, no Kodak moment, it was way too crowded and I kinda felt sorry for her, being barraged w/ questions from 4-5 women at once.
Anyway, Shooter Jennings was awesome! Rockin’ country, fun stuff. Jessi Colter was good too, but it was so packed, I stayed in the pool room area. My friend Beth showed up and she went up to Kris Kristofferson. I walked up while they were talking and she introduced us. I whispered in his ear, “Are you a figment of my imagination, or am I one of yours?” – which is a line from “Watch Closely Now” from “A Star is Born.” He threw his head back and laughed. Great ice-breaker! I asked him for a picture, and he got up to get between Beth and me. I told him he didn’t have to get up, and he said, “I’ll gladly get up to stand between two beautiful women.” Heh. He’s short! He can’t be more than 5’ 9. But those eyes! *swoon*
Beth and I took off to see the Bo Deans at the Music Hall, and then came back to the Continental Club. I can’t recall the last band that played, but I'll fill it in after I look at a list again. We just went back ‘cause it seemed like the “place to be” that night and we didn’t want to deal with anything on 6th St., since it was sprinkling too.
I heard a rumour that Kris was playing a “secret gig” at the same club the following nite at 8 PM. This was confirmed by several employees of the Continental Club when I was there Friday nite. So, I made a point of being there and it was incredible! Just Kris, playing guitar and harmonica, in a club that only holds about 250 people. I’ve never seen so many people in that club be so quiet! It was like the Cactus Café, here – or the Bluebird Café in Nashville. Everyone was like, “Sssshhhh.” After “Me and Bobby McGee,” his 3rd or 4th song, Kris said, “Well, now that I’ve done that song, I don’t have to play any others.” Heh. It was great!
As soon as he finished, I grabbed a cab and headed downtown for Girls’ Japan Nite at Elysium. Where else but SXSW can you see a solo performance by Kris Kristofferson in a tiny club and 10 minutes later walk into a frenzied, super loud club, with a punk power trio of Japanese women on stage? LOL Again, I’ll have to look at the schedule to recall their name. But I really went to see Petty Booka. They did a countrified version of “Born to Be Wild.” And they’re Japanese. And they were wearing cowboy hats and chaps. Love ‘em!
After that, some friends and I wandered down 6th St., trying to decide what to do next. I opted to go back to the Continental Club to see Bernie Leadon’s Bi-Polar Bears band. He had Bob Dylan’s drummer and Sheryl Crow’s bass player. Bernie wrote a lot of songs for the Eagles, and he also played guitar on every Street Angel track. They played until almost 2:30 AM. I told him I was a big Stevie fan and he said that was a really fun album to make. (Huh?). I told him, “Well, most die-hard fans, and Stevie herself, would agree that the Street Angel album was not her creative best, but that I was glad he had fun working with her. I got a pic w/ him too. ;-)
After that, I went to an after-hours party some friend were having. I stayed there until almost 6 AM, went to Taco Cabana for a fajita plate and headed home.
Yesterday was lazy day. Whew! I survived another SXSW!
Wednesday night – The Austin Music Awards – As predicted, Los Lonely Boys swept the major categories (band of the year, song of the year, album of the year, best bass player, and a few others). The performers that night – Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez. Chip wrote “Wild Thing” (a major crowd pleaser). There was also a reunion performance of several members of various local punk bands from 1978. The Green Cards, from Australia, opened the show with an appropriate St. Paddy’s Day Celtic vibe. Los Lonely Boys tore the roof off the sucka, imo. The music awards are always a blast – I seem to run into people there every year that I haven’t seen since the previous year. It’s like our prom, or high school reunion. It’s always fun. ;-)
I went to the Saxon Pub afterwards, just to hang out. It’s not a SXSW venue, but Ian McClagan’s Bump Band was playing their regular, weekly gig. Ian played keyboards with The Faces, and now lives in Austin. I went into the ladies’ room and phoned my friend Bruce, who I knew was at the Cheap Trick/Aerosmith concert in Laredo. He knows Cheap Trick personally, and I figured since it was 11:40-11:45 that the show was probably over. He answered his cell phone and I asked him if he was having fun. He said yes, and “Hang on, I’ll let you talk to Robin” and handed the phone to Robin Zander! LOL I ended up talking to him for 15 minutes or so. I told him I liked the duet he did w/ Stevie. He said he loved working with her and seemed shocked that I’d even heard about it.
Thursday night – My favorite new band, the Scissor Sisters! They were at Stubb’s, one of the 2 bands who played before the B-52’s. Check out their website- check out the chick! She has a Stevie vibe goin’ on. And she rocks on the tambo, just like Stevie! They were fantastic, very B-52’s-ish in their own way. I loved them!
Now, as much as I love the B-52’s, I have seen them before. And Little Richard was playing at the same time across town. So, I grabbed one of those bicycle-rickshaw pedi-cabs and headed toward the Music Hall. I wanted to get there early, since I knew it would be packed. Cake played right before Little Richard, and I caught their set too. They closed with their cover of “I Will Survive.” And what can I say about Little Richard? He da man! I love when he goes “shut up!” Hee. He played all the hits, “Tutti Frutti,” “Good Golly, Miss Molly,” etc. He had an 8-piece band, including 2 drummers, full-on horn section. He rocked! Little Richard’s people were passing out these Christian, inspirational booklets, “Finding Peace Within.” Inside the cover was a pic of Little Richard, with a pre-printed autograph.
I grabbed another pedi-cab and went back to Stubb’s for Junior Senior. I was standing at the indoor bar, showing the bartender and another guy the Little Richard pic and booklet. I hear this woman behind me in line say, “OH! You saw Little Richard?!” I started to say, “Yeah, he was great!” I get out, “Yeah, he …” and turn around, and it was Kate Pierson from the B-52’s!!! LOL She looked fantastic! I finished my sentence about Little Richard and then said, “Wow! Hi!” Other people walked up to her, so I split. I also walked right past Fred Schneider about 10 times. He seemed rushed, so I didn’t stop him. No Kodak moment there….but Junior Senior was great!
Friday night – Continental Club – Shooter Jennings (Waylon and Jessi’s son) and Jessi Colter were playing. Kris Kristofferson was there, and so was Don Was (he produced “Someone to Stand By Me” and a gazillion other artists, including Bonnie Raitt’s Nick of Time album). He’s also an accomplished musician, he played stand-up bass w/ Jessi.
People kept approaching Kris Kristofferson and I was waiting for the right moment. In the meantime, Johnny Knoxville (from Jackass) walked in the back door. He pointed out Kris to his friend, who turned back around with his mouth hanging open. I put my hand on his chin and said, “You’re catching flies, hon!” That was a good ice-breaker for meeting Johnny. I had his friend take our pic.
I was standing on the side of the stage watching the show, and saw a woman in the very front, wearing a Shooter Jennings t-shirt and enjoying every second, and thought to myself, “She looks like Drea Matteo, Adrian from the Sopranos.” Well, turns out, it WAS her! She is also tiny! No more than 5’ 2”. I couldn’t place her at first, without the big hair and nails and make-up like on the Sopranos. The club was packed and the only spot for any elbow room was in the back, by the pool table. My favorite spot to stand in is against the wall, between the stage and pool room. Drea smooshed right past me and someone else recognized her. I said, “Wow, it IS you!” I told her about typing “Christapha” on a message board discussion about the Sopranos and she cracked up. She said, “That’s all they ever give me, Christapha, this, Christapha, that, it’s all about Christapha.” LOL She was very sweet, I ran into her in the bathroom and she said she loved Austin and wanted to buy a house here. I told her I thought the multi-million dollar home that Sandra Bullock built and never moved into might still be available. She said, “F*ck Sandra Bullock!” LOL Then she said, “No, seriously, I could probably never afford a place like that, but I’d still love to buy a house here.” No Kodak moment, we were the only 2 in there! Later, I went in to pee and there were 4 other women fawning all over her, “I loooove the Sopranos, who dies this season?” I said, “Don’t say anything, I don’t wanna know!” As I was peeing, she was telling them how nice this cast member and that cast member was, etc. Again, no Kodak moment, it was way too crowded and I kinda felt sorry for her, being barraged w/ questions from 4-5 women at once.
Anyway, Shooter Jennings was awesome! Rockin’ country, fun stuff. Jessi Colter was good too, but it was so packed, I stayed in the pool room area. My friend Beth showed up and she went up to Kris Kristofferson. I walked up while they were talking and she introduced us. I whispered in his ear, “Are you a figment of my imagination, or am I one of yours?” – which is a line from “Watch Closely Now” from “A Star is Born.” He threw his head back and laughed. Great ice-breaker! I asked him for a picture, and he got up to get between Beth and me. I told him he didn’t have to get up, and he said, “I’ll gladly get up to stand between two beautiful women.” Heh. He’s short! He can’t be more than 5’ 9. But those eyes! *swoon*
Beth and I took off to see the Bo Deans at the Music Hall, and then came back to the Continental Club. I can’t recall the last band that played, but I'll fill it in after I look at a list again. We just went back ‘cause it seemed like the “place to be” that night and we didn’t want to deal with anything on 6th St., since it was sprinkling too.
I heard a rumour that Kris was playing a “secret gig” at the same club the following nite at 8 PM. This was confirmed by several employees of the Continental Club when I was there Friday nite. So, I made a point of being there and it was incredible! Just Kris, playing guitar and harmonica, in a club that only holds about 250 people. I’ve never seen so many people in that club be so quiet! It was like the Cactus Café, here – or the Bluebird Café in Nashville. Everyone was like, “Sssshhhh.” After “Me and Bobby McGee,” his 3rd or 4th song, Kris said, “Well, now that I’ve done that song, I don’t have to play any others.” Heh. It was great!
As soon as he finished, I grabbed a cab and headed downtown for Girls’ Japan Nite at Elysium. Where else but SXSW can you see a solo performance by Kris Kristofferson in a tiny club and 10 minutes later walk into a frenzied, super loud club, with a punk power trio of Japanese women on stage? LOL Again, I’ll have to look at the schedule to recall their name. But I really went to see Petty Booka. They did a countrified version of “Born to Be Wild.” And they’re Japanese. And they were wearing cowboy hats and chaps. Love ‘em!
After that, some friends and I wandered down 6th St., trying to decide what to do next. I opted to go back to the Continental Club to see Bernie Leadon’s Bi-Polar Bears band. He had Bob Dylan’s drummer and Sheryl Crow’s bass player. Bernie wrote a lot of songs for the Eagles, and he also played guitar on every Street Angel track. They played until almost 2:30 AM. I told him I was a big Stevie fan and he said that was a really fun album to make. (Huh?). I told him, “Well, most die-hard fans, and Stevie herself, would agree that the Street Angel album was not her creative best, but that I was glad he had fun working with her. I got a pic w/ him too. ;-)
After that, I went to an after-hours party some friend were having. I stayed there until almost 6 AM, went to Taco Cabana for a fajita plate and headed home.
Yesterday was lazy day. Whew! I survived another SXSW!